Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Receiver Kumerow earning more opportunities
Green Bay — Jake Kumerow has 18 targets this season. He has 11 receptions for 212 yards. In the Green Bay Packers’ offense, that ranks eighth, ninth and eighth, respectively.
There is one statistic in which Kumerow ranks at the top. His 19.3 yards per catch is more than any other Packers receiver with multiple receptions. When given the rare opportunity, Kumerow has made big plays.
His latest was a 49-yard reception in Sunday’s 21-13 win against the Chicago Bears. The longest reception of his career, Kumerow caught Aaron Rodgers’ pass at Chicago’s 43, sidestepped Bears safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, broke two more tackles downfield, then finally was caught at the 11.
The play — and Kumerow’s growing tendency to make them — was the topic of conversation among Packers offensive coaches Monday, head coach Matt LaFleur said. The consensus?
“We have to make sure we get him on the field,” LaFleur said. “So I think you’ll see more of him as we move forward.”
Kumerow has been firmly entrenched as the Packers’ fifth receiver most of this season. His 272 snaps are fifth behind Geronimo Allison (519), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (504), Davante Adams (483, missed four games with injury) and Allen Lazard (308).
Kumerow’s production doesn’t lag as much as his snap count. Allison’s 270 yards on 31 catches are only 58 yards behind Kumerow. Allison has struggled with drops, including Sunday when he was unable to catch a high pass that hit him in the hands, ending the Packers’ first possession.
LaFleur said Allison has found other ways to be valuable to his offense, specifically as a blocker. The coach lauded his receiver for a block against Bears linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, helping to spring running back Aaron Jones’ 21yard touchdown run.
Still, Allison’s lack of production in the receiving game is impossible to ignore. “It’s no secret,” LaFleur said, “G-Mo has had a couple drops. I think the one (Sunday), that was not an easy catch. I’ve seen him make it before, so I know he can do it.”
Ideally, Valdes-Scantling would have developed into the Packers’ second receiver.
He is the only receiver the Packers drafted other than Adams. But he is mired in a deep slump, which only worsened Sunday when he dropped Rodgers’ first pass of the game, a potential 70-yard touchdown.
“I think you just gotta keep working,” LaFleur said of Valdes-Scantling. “I have been really pleased with, I know you guys don’t always get to see it, but he has been busting his butt at practice. That’s why I’m confident that he’s going to work himself out of it.”
If that confidence remains, it doesn’t erase the need for his offense to get more production from the receiver position, especially outside Adams.
In the past six games, Valdes-Scantling has two catches for 11 yards. In the same stretch, Kumerow has five catches for 120 yards.
So, LaFleur said, Kumerow will get his shot.
“In fairness to those other guys,” LaFleur said, “we have to do a better job of making sure a guy like Jake Kumerow gets on the field more often because he has been making plays.”
First pick pleases Lowry
Being in the right place at the right time paid off for Packers defensive end Dean Lowry on Sunday, as he dropped off his rush and got into the passing lane of Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky with just under seven minutes left in the game.
Lowry managed to not just knock the ball off its flight but intercept it – though he acknowledged he almost dropped it. He rumbled seven yards before Bears guard Rashaad Coward tackled him.
“He had the angle on me, so that’s my excuse for getting caught by a lineman,” Lowry said. “It was kind of a bang-bang play and just the adrenaline was pumping.”
The turnover gave the Packers the ball back at the Bears’ 33 with 6:32 left in the game. Even though the offense went three-and-out, it ran off over two minutes of clock and punted to the Bears’ 5. They needed everyone one of those seconds and yards as the Bears’ final play ended as time expired at the Packers’ 2.
But for Lowry, the interception against the Bears will be remembered. Not only was it the first of his four-year career, but he grew up in Rockford, Illinois and played his college ball at Northwestern.
“It’s pretty cool,” Lowry said. “Just to do it against the Bears, a team that I’ve grown up watching, and to be a part of this rivalry now and make a big play, it’s special.”
Pro Bowl voting
Fan voting for the Pro Bowl ended Dec. 12 and the NFL released the results Monday. The Packers were one of the top-five teams receiving votes (Baltimore led all teams in fan voting).
Coaches and players will round out the voting to determine the rosters for the annual postseason exhibition. The league will announce the rosters Tuesday evening.
For the Packers, outside linebacker Preston Smith received the most fan votes at his position in the NFC (166,347) while David Bakhtiari led all NFC left tackles (194,207). Bakhtiari made his only Pro Bowl trip in 2016 while Smith has never made an appearance in the game.
Former Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson (Seattle), center Travis Frederick (Dallas) and linebacker T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh) were also leading vote-getters at their respective positions in their conference.
Williams’ alert play helps Packers survive final-play laterals
On the penultimate play of Sunday’s game, Mitch Trubisky threw deep. That seemed like the rational strategy, though Trubisky had another miserable day against the Packers’ defense, and his pass fell incomplete.
The Bears were at the Packers’ 34yard line, close enough to smell the end zone. They trailed 21-13 with less than 10 seconds left. This appeared to be logical time for the Hail Mary.
So the Packers played it accordingly, dropping back in coverage for the final play. Trubisky instead threw underneath to running back Tarik Cohen near the 20-yard line. What happened next, cornerback Tramon Williams could only describe as a close call.
Williams trailed the play and, after two laterals got tight end Jesper Horsted inside the 10-yard line, eventually recovered Horsted’s fumble at the 1 to end the game.
It appeared Horsted had a chance to lateral to Bears receiver Allen Robinson, who was uncovered to his outside.
“It was moving quickly,” Horsted said. “I had my eyes on the inside where the ball was coming from. I was focused on, ‘Would I be running with it or blocking?’ And then I got the ball, and the first thing I looked downfield and I saw a little bit of daylight, but I knew that I had a guy (Robinson) on the outside.”
Because Horsted’s fumble was ruled as such instead of an illegal, forward lateral, it was a live ball. If Williams hadn’t pounced on it, a Bears player could have scooped it up (although only Horsted would have been eligible to advance it and score a potential game-tying touchdown with a twopoint conversion).
Williams said there wasn’t much that passed through his mind when he saw the football bouncing across Lambeau Field.
“I just know,” Williams said, “if the ball is on the ground and we recover it, we win. It ain’t really hard. It ain’t rocket science.”
Payton nomination for Martinez
The Packers nominated inside linebacker Blake Martinez for the NFL’s coveted Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The award recognizes a player for his community service activities coupled with his play on the field.
Martinez will receive a donation of up to $50,000 in his name to the charity of his choice. The winner of the award will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of their choice. Martinez often donates to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Salvation Army.